Friday June 6, 2008
Ready for action
By LOU JOON YEE
startwo@thestar.com.my
FANCY a toilet-seat cover in football design or padded beer-carrying cool-bags to tote along to those outdoor big-screen viewing events? You can buy those items at supermarkets and other stores in Switzerland.
Keeping comfy: Nope, those aren't French caps ... they’re socks for the die-hard France fans. One is constantly amazed and amused by the myriads of merchandise, which retailers have come up with to cash in on the football frenzy that has been building up in Switzerland. Having lived here for almost two years, I enjoy flipping through shop brochures and browsing shelves to see the latest items with a soccer connection, no matter how obscure.
Aside from the usual T-shirts, car flags, lanyards, caps and socks, you can buy shopping bags and flip-flops in your favourite country team colours, pyjama sets, rain-ponchos, summer dresses and even boxer shorts. Anyone for coasters with the football motif, a flask engraved with the ubiquitous hexagons of the black and white ball and a face-painting kit complete with tissues that have pictures of cheering spectators on the packaging? Suffice to say, there will only be tears for fans of Switzerland’s “Schweizer Nati” team if they harbour hopes of seeing them make it to the quarterfinals. Slim chance for both Austria and Switzerland although it’d be nice to see at least one of them make it.
Everything you need: The papers in Switzerland advertise goods for all football fans’ needs. And if you cheer for the wrong team in hostile company, a deflated football-shaped first-aid kit might just come in handy. The Swiss are courteous and gentle people (something to do with the yodelling and alphorn playing, I guess), but you’d never know about the, ahem, motley foreigners who flock in for the games. The English will be sorely missed.
From the famous Swiss knife emblazoned with football graphics to a vacuum cleaner that is perplexingly accompanied by a red football (have yet to figure that one out), to binoculars decorated with the Swiss white cross on red background – you can virtually fill your home with all things footie and patriotic (if you’re Swiss or from any of the popular European football nations).
As for food and drink, many brands have jumped on the cheering fans’ bandwagon and have plastered their packaging with “Hopp Schweiz!” – the local cheer of loyal fans. Mars has repackaged their gooey caramel chocolate bar and renamed it “Hopp” temporarily in support of Euro 2008. Popcorn, biscuits, TV dinners and all kinds of crisps are being marketed as football food together with buns baked in the shape of the cross (Swiss flag logo). They are assuming most fans won’t be bothered to cook much during match times and those marketers are probably right.
To help the national spirit and make the national players better known to the general public, a supermarket weekly magazine has featured the players in their personal leisure apparel – complete with fashion comments from a woman writer. She declared midfielder Hakan Yakin in need of classier shirts and an immediate hair re-styling and that defender Philippe Senderos wears black to be safe when he doesn’t want to think about what to wear.
Two weeks before the tournament begins, one is alarmed on a drive towards Zurich to see electronic signboards warning of “jam danger” on the roads leading to the vibrant city. But those are merely “testing, testing” signboards – traffic is still normal. Phew! The authorities have already put up directions to parking areas just outside the city, encouraging fans to travel the rest of the way to the stadiums using Switzerland’s hyper-efficient, on time to the point of sometimes being half a minute early, trains, buses and trams.
Citizens and expatriates who are not interested in football are reported to be already leaving the football-hosting cities for a vacation away from the hordes of fans of the groups of 11 men kicking one piece of air-filled leather against another team.
Wear it loud: And wear it proud. Euro 2008 Lanyards for the patriotic. For the rest of us down with football fever, those who are valued Swiss Airlines and Swiss bank customers, have been invited to big-screen match-viewing parties, complete with crunchy eats and limitless drinks. Hardly anyone I know has tickets to the matches in the stadia; some extremely lucky ones do get corporate tickets.
To be sure, we’re postponing holidays till the tournament is over, stocking up on snacks and planning to make our own match-night ostrich-meat curry puffs, Alpen macaroni and apple strudel. Oh, ja, and making sure our television set is in tip-top order.
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